# Foods whose names have changed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412 "2010-03-05T14:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/1 "2010-03-05T14:45:02Z")
[Kiwifruit]([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit\](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit%5C)) was originally called “Chinese Gooseberry.” Whoever capitalized on its resemblance to the bird was a marketing genius. What other foods hace changed only their names, while remaining the same? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/2 "2010-03-05T14:48:36Z")
“Sugar Frosted Flakes” became “Frosted Flakes Of Corn”, once sugar became a bad thing to serve to kids. It was difficult to sell “rapeseed oil”, so it became “canola oil” (short for **Can** adian **O** il, **L** ow **A** cid) in 1978. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/3 "2010-03-05T14:49:08Z")
Huh, I would have thought they were capitalizing on the fact it kind of looks like a gooseberry? [http://www.allotment.org.uk/greenhouse/fruit/assets/gooseberry.jpg](http://www.allotment.org.uk/greenhouse/fruit/assets/gooseberry.jpg) Patagonian toothfish to Chilean Sea Bass. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/4 "2010-03-05T14:49:51Z")
Patagonian Toothfish - Chilean Sea Bass Slimehead - Orange Roughy ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/5 "2010-03-05T14:51:29Z")
Cool simlupost! GORP to trial mix. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/6 "2010-03-05T14:57:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Kiwifruit was originally called “Chinese Gooseberry.” That was going to be my contribution, so I’ll just post [this picture](http://9gag.com/photo/7914_540.jpg) instead. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/7 "2010-03-05T15:03:37Z")
The first guy to commercially grow kiwifruit in California is a friend of my mother. He was a teacher before he retired and went into the fruit game. The first kiwis grown in California were in Redlands. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/8 "2010-03-05T15:04:37Z")
Back to the OP: Bait became much more popular when they renamed it “sushi.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/9 "2010-03-05T15:07:32Z")
Sugar Smacks --\> Honey Smacks Super Sugar Crisp --\> Golden Crisp ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/10 "2010-03-05T15:09:16Z")
Tubba Bubba’s now Hubba Bubba ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/11 "2010-03-05T15:35:54Z")
Kiwifruit is not so named because it resembles the bird. It’s named that because it was at one point exported from New Zealand (although it’s native to China), and the national symbol of New Zealand is the kiwi bird. The name was changed during the Cold War because it was thought that it wasn’t a good idea to associate the fruit with China. It talks about this in the Wikipedia entry. Here’s the correct link, which is slightly messed up in the OP: > **[Kiwifruit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit)** > > Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward') is oval, about the size of a large hen's egg: 5–8 centimetres (2–3 inches) in length and .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;ve Kiwif... ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/12 "2010-03-05T15:44:09Z")
Well, “Kentucky Fried Chicken” became KFC, because they wanted to play down the word “fried.” The fish long known as “dolphin” was renamed “mahi-mahi” so that diners wouldn’t freak out, thinking they were eating Flipper. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/13 "2010-03-05T15:45:40Z")
I have heard that prunes sell better now that they are marketed as dried plums. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/14 "2010-03-05T15:48:08Z")
There’s good old Brazil nuts, which many people used to call “nigger toes”. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/15 "2010-03-05T15:51:30Z")
Sauerkraut \>\> Liberty Cabbage \>\> Sauerkraut. Margarine, at least according to my (late) grandmother, used to be called Oleo. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/16 "2010-03-05T15:52:34Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The fish long known as “dolphin” was renamed “mahi-mahi” so that diners wouldn’t freak out, thinking they were eating Flipper. Not really. The [Dolphinfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphinfish) was renamed to mahi-mahi so that diners wouldn’t freak out. But Dolphinfish are not Dolphins, it’s just a name. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/17 "2010-03-05T15:56:09Z")
Saying dolphinfish was “renamed” mahi-mahi isn’t quite right. People just started using another language’s word for it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/18 "2010-03-05T16:18:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Saying dolphinfish was “renamed” mahi-mahi isn’t quite right. People just started using another language’s word for it. Know any OTHER English words or phrases that have been replaced by equivalent Hawaiian terms? An obscure term from another language was deliberately chosen to replace an existing English term in order not to freak out consumers. I think that counts. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/19 "2010-03-05T16:28:22Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Cool simlupost! > > GORP to trial mix. Not a surprise-GORP resembles the sound you make when you are face-down over the toilet after a long bender. [Note I am a trail-mix junkie] > [@astorian](#): > > Well, “Kentucky Fried Chicken” became KFC, because they wanted to play down the word “fried.” And now, it’s back to the former moniker again. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/20 "2010-03-05T16:28:33Z")
Whore’s eggs have been renamed Maine sea urchins (or, in sushi, its Japanese name: uni). Mud crabs are now called peekytoe crabs. Goosefish is now called monkfish (which, to me, is equally unappetizing). Snakehead is now channa. the seafood industry recently went after a California restaurant that was selling a Vietnamese cousin of the catfish as “white roughy.” [link](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002478_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009073002982) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412.md?page=2)